"What are you panicking for?!" Laurist pulled out his sword and pulled Genolio behind him.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh …" Loriste deflected more than ten arrows in a row, but a series of screams rang out from the deck below and the nearby whaling ships. The originally empty deck was filled with arrows of different lengths. Without cover, the cannons and catapult operators had no place to hide. In this attack, a third of the fleet was killed or injured …
I've made a mistake. Laurist's heart sank. Because they were at sea, all the soldiers on board had taken off their family's standard armor and changed into light and buoyant water beast leather armor. This was to prevent any unfortunate accidents from happening if they fell into the water. Furthermore, Laurist believed that with the bronze cannons' long-range attacks, they would be able to destroy the enemy two to three hundred meters away. They would not give the enemy any chance to get close to the ship. Thus, the water beast leather armor was more like a life jacket. It did not increase the wearer's defense by much.
However, he did not expect the Invincible Fleet to drag people down with them even at the brink of death. They ignored the fact that more than sixty large warships at the front had already been destroyed by the chain bullets and flint bombs. Not only did they not retreat, but they also used the burning warships in front of them as shields. Taking advantage of the fact that the smoke and fire blocked their vision, they continued to advance forward. They successfully closed the distance between the two sides to less than 150 meters. Then, they used their longbows to launch their first counterattack, causing the Norton Family's fleet many casualties.
Arrows rained down …
Laurist had never thought that longbows would be so powerful in a naval battle. There was no longer anyone on the deck who could fire catapults and cannons. The soldiers were all trying to find cover. There were white arrows everywhere, so densely packed that it was as if a large forest had grown out of the deck.
Only the Invincible Fleet could afford to use longbows like this because they had many people on board. Laurist had also installed large steel crossbows on his ship, which had a range of nearly 300 meters. However, they had been abandoned because of their poor firepower. In a naval battle, crossbows were not as effective as cannons. They could not blast a hole in a ship, and a normal ship could still escape like a porcupine after being hit by a crossbow. However, the Invincible Fleet's use of many soldiers to cover the sea with their longbows brought a great threat and casualties to the Norton Family.
"The enemy is 120 meters away! Ugh … "The dutiful lookout fell from the mast onto the deck with a few arrows stuck in his body. He struggled for a while before he stopped moving.
Laurist jumped off the slipway. "Joe, protect Genolio."
He strode towards a catapult and grabbed the twisting arm of the catapult, intending to restore the arm of the catapult to its original position. Auvikis immediately rushed over. "Your Highness, let me do it."
Laurist used his sword to parry the rain of arrows as he roared, "Go to the cabin and get me a few gunpowder packs. Fire the cannons and destroy those fire ships in front!"
Auvikis braved the rain of arrows and rushed into the cabin. Very quickly, the bronze cannons below the deck rumbled again. Although it was difficult for the cannons to destroy the burning warships in one go, more than half of the burning parts of the fire ships that had been hit by the iron bullets fell into the sea. Once the fire died down, and the smoke was blown away by the sea breeze, it revealed the large armed warships of the Invincible Fleet with their sails half open, as well as the giant ship of the Septorim Sea Castle behind them. From afar, the bows of these warships were filled with archers with bows and arrows.
Laurist kicked the catapult's mechanism to the first stop. That was the marker for the catapult's closest effective throwing distance.
"Put the gunpowder packs on the ladle. Pull out a match from the side and cut it in half. Light it, quick!" Laurist shouted at Auvikis, who had come out of the cabin with a few gunpowder packs.
Auvikis did not have scissors, so he used the sword in his hand to cut off half of the match. A fire arrow landed beside him, and he grabbed it and lit it. Laurist twisted the firing lever, and the catapult's arm rose into the air. The gunpowder pack was thrown far away.
Very quickly, the gunpowder pack became a small black dot. Just as it was about to fall into the group of archers on the enemy warships, there was a sudden flash of fire, and a thunderous sound came from afar. All the archers on the bow where the gunpowder pack had landed were wiped out.
Laurist was overjoyed. "Quick, let's continue!"
Auvikis stood in front of Laurist. "Your Highness, let us do it. You command …"
At the same time, he called out to the surviving operators on the deck to hurry up. Very quickly, the second gunpowder pack flew into the sky. There were still seven or eight groups of operators who had not suffered any casualties. Laurist arranged for one group to go to the cabin to move the gunpowder packs, while the other six groups gathered together to fire the catapults. Laurist and Auvikis stood on the left and right, protecting them from the rain of arrows.
After a series of random explosions, the center of the Invincible Fleet was spared from the rain of arrows. However, the Invincible Fleet's formation had changed from a convex shape to a concave shape. The distance between the two sides of the Norton Family's formation was less than a hundred meters.
All the cannons were firing with all their might, but the effect was not very good. The main reason was that the fire ships in front of the Invincible Fleet had become a natural shield for the battleships behind them. These large, burning battleships were not like those flimsy merchant ships. No matter how fiercely the fire burned, the hull of the ships below was not affected. Furthermore, the cabins of these large battleships were filled with flour as a buffer, so they did not fall apart or sink after being bombarded by these fierce cannons.
…
Viscount Penélope felt very ashamed. As the commander-in-chief of the Invincible Fleet, he had been through hundreds of battles and fought at sea for decades, yet he was not as courageous as a young man who was ten years younger than his son. The sixty or so large armed warships charging at the front had their masts broken and their sails broken, colliding with the warships in the second row and being bombarded by rocks. When those burning rocks fell from the sky and turned the seventy or eighty warships into ships of fire, Viscount Penélope panicked. His first thought at that time was to evacuate as soon as possible.
Although it was in the name of preserving the effective strength of the Invincible Fleet, Viscount Penélope was really scared at that time. Moreover, none of the high-ranking officials of the fleet objected to this proposal of evacuation. Everyone was frightened by the sharp long-range attacks of the Norton Family fleet. It was not easy to come up with a way to make the cannons of the Norton Family fleet lose their greatest effectiveness, but the enemy's catapults were even more powerful. The range and power of the stones were greater than that of the Invincible Fleet's newly equipped catapults. No one could have thought that the sixty-five large, armed battleships at the front would be destroyed in such a short period of time …
We can't retreat! A firm voice stopped Viscount Penélope from issuing the evacuation order. At the critical moment, Young Master Serliham stood up, and with just a few words, he made the high-ranking officials of the fleet change their minds about retreating. They gritted their teeth and decided to fight to the death with the Norton Family fleet.
Young Master Serliham said that if we retreat now, we won't be able to escape tomorrow. The Norton Family's armed battleships have already blocked the way to Hidden Gold Bay. After everyone evacuates, they will also send the cannons to harass us. We are in a dilemma. If we continue like this, we will collapse sooner or later. We might as well fight to the death with the enemy. Moreover, he has already found a chance to win.
What chance to win? The high-ranking officials of the fleet were confused.
"It's very simple …" Serliham said. Before the battle, he refused to arrange a vanguard on the large armed battleships at the front to avoid casualties and to test the power of the cannons of the Norton Family fleet. Although they blocked most of the damage from the cannons, they did not expect the Norton Family to have such powerful catapults, which turned the warships at the front into burning fire ships.
However, these fire ships also became the best cover for the follow-up fleet. Although we lost dozens of warships at the front, we still have more than a hundred large armed battleships. We will go up and use these fire ships as shields. Then, we will lower the sails to avoid being discovered by the enemy too early and slowly approach. The wind is smooth today, and the direction of the current is in the same direction as the wind. The weather is on our side.
Now, we are less than 200 meters away from the enemy. As long as we are within 50 meters, we can organize people to use the longbow method to give the enemy a taste of our strength. If we are within 100 meters, the long-range attack weapons on our warships will be useful, and we can suppress the attacks of the enemy's cannons and catapults. We can even use the fire ships at the front as our weapons to burn the enemy's warships …
Serliham's words strengthened the confidence of the high-ranking officials of the Invincible Fleet. When the organized archers used the longbow method to launch a counterattack, and when they heard faint screams coming from the front, all the high-ranking officials of the fleet cheered. It was not easy, but they finally caused casualties to the enemy. Even if the casualties were very small, it was still a great victory.
However, everyone's joy did not last long. The Norton Family fleet threw a package that emitted sparks and exploded on the bow and the sea, and the sailors gathered at the bow were almost wiped out. Viscount Penélope turned pale with fright. "What is that?"
Young Master Serliham replied coldly, "Don't worry about what it is. In short, it's another new trick of the Norton Family. Now, we only have one way out, and that is to rush over these 100 meters as quickly as possible. We need to use our advantage in numbers to rush to the enemy's warships and seize their ships to obtain the final victory! Sir, there is no time. Order the full sail to charge, and order the small rapid-impact ships behind us to be ready to charge at the last 50 meters. Not only can they disperse the enemy's firepower, but they can also provide cover for us! "
A loud horn was blown. This was the signal for the final charge, and it was also the signal for the final assault. Almost all of the undamaged warships erupted with cheers of "Victory!". All of the sails that were lowered were quickly raised, and the fire ships that were leading the charge also increased in speed. The brave sailors ignored the miserable state of the archers at the front of the ships, and operated all sorts of long-range weapons to launch a fierce attack on the Norton Family fleet that was less than a hundred meters away from them.
The cannons of the enemy fleet were also firing with all their might, and the sturdy hull of the ship would feel violent tremors from time to time, as well as the sharp whistling sounds of iron bullets whizzing past their ears. But this time, no one was afraid, even if their companions were unlucky and suddenly lost their heads or had a large hole in their chest. The sailors continued to calmly fire all kinds of long-range attack weapons at the enemy.
… …
A rock the size of a human head smashed beside Loriste, bounced on the thick deck, and flew in another direction. Loriste glanced at the rock indifferently, and then turned his gaze to the Invincible Fleet in front of him.
"Quick, quick, quick, prepare the chain ammunition …" Schwader kept urging. Only four of the 10 land-based cannons on the deck were still firing. The cannons were heavily damaged when they were shot by the longbows, and the injured had already been rescued into the cabins. Schwader only managed to gather four and a half intact cannons after a long time.
"Sir, the chain ammunition is out …" This was bad news.
Schwader looked at the enemy ships that were less than 100 meters away, and sighed. "Prepare the canister ammunition, and prepare a weapon for everyone. I think we may have to fight in close combat."
Just as he finished speaking, he heard a loud explosion coming from the whaling ship beside him. Flames and black smoke flashed. That was the sound of a violent explosion coming from one of the windows on the second floor of the ship. A large hole was blasted open on the deck of the ship. A land-based artillery on the deck was thrown high up into the sea along with its rack ….
"Bastard! How could you be so careless! " Schwader was furious. This must have been a mistake made by the cannons. Either they had stuffed too much gunpowder, or they had placed the gunpowder too close and set it on fire. Such a critical mistake at this juncture was too demoralizing.
Once again, the whimpering sound of conch shells could be heard from the Paragon Fleet, followed by a wave of cheers. Vaguely, through the burning fiery ships and smoke, one could see several small rapid-ramming warships with a thick, sharp spear on their bow flashing out from behind those large armed warships. These small rapid-ramming warships were like centipedes that had grown legs. Twelve oars stretched out from each side of the warships, swiftly sweeping past the warships in front, passing through the gaps between the burning fiery ships and the smoke, and shooting towards the whaling ships like arrows across the formation ….
"Rapid-Impact warships! Lower the muzzle, fire the canister ammunition, aim, fire! "
All the cannons were familiar with the small rapid-impact warships of the Invincible Fleet, because they had heard the cannoneers of the Thunderbolt Fleet boast more than once about how they dealt with those small rapid-impact warships. Canister ammunition was the best weapon, and every shot was accurate enough to take out a ship full of people. However, they had forgotten the most important point. The Thunderbolt Fleet had never allowed the small rapid-impact warships to get within fifty meters of them.
The cannons rang out one after another, and the hundreds of small rapid-impact warships that were rapidly approaching the surface of the sea were occasionally covered in blood mist. However, there were less than thirty small rapid-impact warships that were hit by the cannons. Most of the rapid-impact warships were already less than twenty meters away, launching their final charge!
Very quickly, the rapid-impact warships rammed into the whaling ships, and the crashing sounds continued to ring out. Just as the whaling ships shook violently, flying claws were thrown up from below the ships and hooked onto the sides of the ships. The sailors on the rapid-impact warships held their short swords in their mouths, and grabbed onto the ropes of the flying claws as they nimbly climbed up the ship's walls.
Battle cries came from the left, and Lollister turned to look, only to see a huge ship from the Invincible Fleet, Septorium, ramming into a whaling ship. The whaling ship was knocked up high, and the bronze cannons and catapults on the deck tumbled to the other side. Numerous fully armed sailors appeared on the huge Septorium ship, and they were climbing onto ropes and pouncing towards the whaling ship.
There were also six cannons on the whaling ship next to them. Under the command of the deputy commander of the cannons, Jim, they turned their cannons around and fired at the whaling ship and the huge Septorium ship. The armed sailors of the Invincible Fleet that were still in the air exploded into blood mist, and the scene was extremely bloody …
Lollister turned his cold gaze back. "Genolio!" “
"Your Highness, I'm here." “
Have the medium-sized armed fleet on the right attack. Circle around and bombard the enemy ship's waterline at close range. Order the guards in the cabins to attack, and follow me to counterattack the enemy ship! "
"Yes, Your Highness!"
…
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